ShopWiki
Launches Search By Color
ShopWiki this morning launched its ‘Search by Color’ feature which lets
consumers quickly and easily filter search results by color. From the press
release: Accessible on ShopWiki’s search results page, the Search by Color
tool displays more than 60,000 RGB colors for shoppers to choose from. A
shopper looking for a turquoise v-neck shirt, for example, can search "women’s
v-neck" then select the desired shade from the color tool. Once selected, the
search results are instantly updated to list those shirts available in the
chosen hue. You have to play around with Shop by Color to really understand
the power…

A New
Local Search Marketing Guide
I’ve often been amazed that there isn’t a more organized effort by search
engines and others targeting small business advertisers to "educate" them
about online marketing. There are independent efforts here and there, but all
players would benefit from a concerted initiative. Until then, small
businesses have to rely on more informed colleagues and the serendipity of
discovering resources online. One such resource, put together by Matt McGee,
is the relatively concise Local Search Marketing Guide….

Searcher
Behavior Update
Search marketing has evolved from relatively simple optimization of web pages
into a more sophisticated process involving a number of variables. Apart from
tactical maneuvers with SEO or PPC campaigns, savvy search marketers are
increasingly trying to understand searcher behavior, and attempting to
proactively anticipate user needs. More and more research is providing hard
data to support these efforts, writes Grant Crowell in today’s SearchDay
article, Understanding Searcher Behavior….

Google
Not Obeying NoIndex Meta Tag?
I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google.com Displaying Pages in
Index with NoIndex Meta Tags. The details come from a WebmasterWorld thread
where two members I would trust claim Google is not obeying the noindex meta
tag. Currently, I have no evidence, since examples are not allowed at
WebmasterWorld. If you have examples of this in action, please let us know by
starting a thread in our Google Web Search Forum at Search Engine Watch
Forums….

Forecasted Online Ad Spend Is Corrected Upwards
Search is winning the hearts and minds of marketing managers across the US,
(and this is good news for search worldwide). Brand managers that tend to buy
display advertising more readily will continue to be a tough sell for search,
but that may be its only limitation. TNS Media Intelligence (which tracks
online display advertising spend) has increased their forecast for 2006. This
is a 4% correction from their earlier estimated growth, (and bucks the hold
pattern or downward trend for other forms of advertising). The company cited
earlier estimates as far too conservative after tracking faster than expected
migration…

Japan To
Build Own Search Engine With 30 Japanese Companies & Government Help
The Mainichi Daily show that Japan is going to be building out their own
search engine after conducting a focus group on the idea. Thirty organizations
in Japan and the University of Tokyo will be working to develop the Japanese
based search engine. Part of the group includes big brands such as Hitachi,
Fujitsu and Nippon. The Japanese government plans on providing a subsidy for
the project. Why? "Many people in Japan fear that the domination of the three
firms will prevent Japanese companies from entering the market." The European
Union, led by France, is doing something very similar….

A Look
At Google’s Oregon Operation & Yahoo Leaves Pasadena
Niall Kennedy summarizes a NY Times article about Google’s Oregon center and
Yahoo and Microsoft’s exploration in areas like that. The Google Oregon center
would be one of the largest data centers, taking up about two football fields.
The NY Times article also estimated Google having "450,000 servers spread over
at least 25 locations around the world." Microsoft with an estimated 200,000
servers is expected to grow to 800,000 by 2011. Yahoo is on the move as well,
moving to Burbank by end of June. There is no doubt that energy costs will be
on the mind of these search…

New York
State Sends Warning On Google Video Service
ResourceShelf notes a Red Herring article about the New York State Consumer
Protection Board (CPB) warning parents about Google Video. The warning
discussed that Google Video enables children to "easily access and view videos
with sexual themes and off-color material" all for free. ResourceShelf also
notes that the only video service mentioned in this warning is Google Video,
not YouTube or Yahoo Video….

Clickbot.A Click Fraud Network Dismantled
ClickZ reports that the Clickbot.A virus that infected 34,000 machines (last
report more than 50,000 PCs) and auto clicked on an unknown amount of PPC ads,
has been shut down. Panda Software and RSA Security worked together to
dismantle the virus. Read the full details over at Panda Software….

New
Public Link Spam Exploits
Peter Da Vanzo has posted information on XSS Redirects & SEO. Peter linked to
two documented methods of exploiting comments and links at blogs and other
sites. The two links include; XSS and Redirection Attacks, which makes for a
nice and interested educational read and Moveable Type Backlink Exploit that
makes me a little depressed (running MovableType and all). Point being? The
nofollow attribute, created to slow down link spam, has not worked, IMO, I
actually had to pull comments and trackbacks completely from my blog after 3
years of them being enabled. Sad….

Google
Images Home Page Design Test
Philipp Lenssen has screen captures of an other new search interface design,
this time being test on Google Images. The test is running a vertical
navigation of Google’s other properties either on the left hand side or
directly above the search box. The one directly above the search box looks
awkward to me….

Looking
At Links After Looking At Patents
I know, I know. Everyone everywhere is running SEO interviews with everyone.
But Bill Slawski Interview over at SEO Buzz Box is well worth a read. Aaron
Pratt’s got a great set of questions that he puts to Bill, who in turn has
very clear, good responses that show how the original Google notion of links
as votes has become complicated for both Google and search marketers….

Minority
Report-Like Interactive Google Earth
Via our SEW Forums, a great find. Check out this video showing how PhD
candidate Edward Tse of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs at the
University of Calgary rigged Google Earth into an interactive tabletop
display: …

Google
Introduces Picasa Web Albums
Google has enhanced its desktop-based Picasa photo organizing program by
offering users the ability to upload albums and easily share photos with
others. Picasa Web Albums is launching as a limited test that will be
available only to existing Gmail users on a first-come, first-served basis?if
you want to try the service, you should act quickly to try to secure your
account….

Microsoft ‘Mix-ins’ vs. Google Mashups
Steven Lawler of Microsoft didn’t directly mention Google by name, but many of
his comments this morning at Where2.0 were directed toward differentiating
Microsoft’s Virtual Earth platform and Windows Live Local’s consumer
destination from the company’s chief online rival. As part of his very
accelerated presentation (15 minutes) he said that Microsoft’s goal is to
"leverage local information on a global basis" through a mapping interface.
That’s very much like the message Google presented yesterday….

Google Queried on Net Neutrality Ads, Broadcasting & Cable (the pro-net
neutrality ads aren’t being given away for free, Google’s Vint Cerf told a US
senate committee. Iasked the
same last week, was told Google was checking on it but never got answer).

This week, both LinkedIn and Facebook are beefing up their paid social offerings in different ways, while Google seeks to cut off Adwords revenues for fake news sites. And might Google be favouring desktop over its own AMP in its upcoming mobile-first index?

Here we’ll take a look at the basic things you need to know in regards to search engine optimisation, a discipline that everyone in your organisation should at least be aware of, if not have a decent technical understanding.